Dirty
by El-Jorro
Summary: Feeling unclean after her travels through the Wasteland, Jane, The Lone Wanderer, finds a way to cleanse body...and mind


Hello internet. This is my first Fanfic. Constructive Criticism is greatly appreciated.

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Dirty. She felt Dirty, That's the major thing Jane noticed as she lied in bed in her house in Megaton about life outside the Vault. Inside the Vault everything was sanitized. Outside the Vault nothing seemed to be clean. All the buildings had a layer of dirt; everyone's clothes were smudged. Even Tenpenny Tower, arguably the nicest place outside the Vault or Raven Rock, the clothes were still worn and the walls faded and cracked.

At first she didn't mind a whole lot after she got used to it. But lately the filth had started to grate on her nerves. Sure she had taken a dip in the various bodies of water across the wasteland. But those pools were irradiated, dirty, and she usually ended up covered in mirelurk guts.

She did confess to herself that when she was exiled from the Vault, a large part of her said "good riddance" she was tired of the sheltered, stagnating life in that glorified prison. It still hurt her when Amata said she had to leave, after all it was her home. But Megaton was her home now and frankly she liked it better there. It definitely had more personality. But the fact was in Megaton, purified water, even with the purifier on was still too precious to waste on bathing, That was the one thing she missed about the Vault…more than enough water to spare.

It wasn't just the dirt. Jane sat up in bed and looked at her body. And while it probably was not true, she could feel as though all the filth from her months in the wasteland was still on her body. The dirt from the Wasteland, blood and brains from the raiders, mutants, and mole rats, muck from Point Lookout, grime from the Pitt, and the lubricant from the power armor, all felt like it was caked on to her body.

She couldn't stand it anymore. Then an idea hit her. She was going on a little trip. She got out of bed and walked out of her bedroom/office. As she passed Wadsworth, the robot, which was in power save mode began to reactivate.

"Initializing power-up procedures"

"Override" Jane said and the robot went back to sleep, metaphorically speaking.

Striding over to her locker, Jane opted for her lighter Talon Company Armor instead of her bulky Power Armor. She then selected her Railway Rifle, Laser Rifle, 10 mm and Shiskebab, for whatever dangers lie in the wastes. She then strode out into the mostly sleeping Megaton and headed southwest for the Jefferson Memorial.

It was still plenty dark when she arrived at the site of Project Purity, after disposing of 3 mole rats and a Robobrain. After checking with Brotherhood of Steel guards, who let her in without incident, she was to savior of the wasteland after all, Jane stood before the roaring waters of Project Purity.

The Purifier. Her father's work. The activation of this purifier, along with the plants of Oasis, assured Jane that in not too long that the Capital Wasteland will become green and fertile again and will cease to be known as the wasteland. But that was another day; right now she had other matters to attend to.

After climbing around the pipes for a while she found the perfect place. It was a four-pipe junction around the center of the pipe network it was surrounded an all sides, completely invisible from the outside unless someone was looking down inside it. And inside was a large tap-like pipe that swung out connected to a valve that said, tertiary water access. She assumed this was a point where samples could be taken to test for quality. It suited her needs perfectly. After making sure no one else was around, she shed her Talon Armor, and then her undergarments, after she was completely bare, she stored them in her Pip-Boy. She then climbed the ladder to the junction where she could hear the water flow through the massive pipes around her. She then swung out the tap and threw down the lever.

What happened next, Jane could only describe as going to heaven. When she threw down the level, clean, pure water gushed out and consumed her being. The water was cool but not freezing, as though she were swimming through the waters of Little Lamplight once again. She could feel the filth slowly come off of her body. It flowed down from to top of her head to the tips of her toes. All the blood, sweat, and grime she had accumulated were all washed away. She turned and twisted her body, honed and sculpted from her months of fighting, running, and more fighting, to make sure every inch of her skin and every orifice was exposed to the waters of life. She also drank. Opened her mouth and the let the crystal clear water flow inside her body. Jane swore she could feel the water cleanse her stomach of the Radroach meat, and irradiated Cram.

After a while she could feel herself start to prune. So she shut the valve off. She then threw her short black hair over hers shoulder with a beaming smile on her face. She stood there for a moment letting the last few drops roll of her body. Jane then dried herself with a towel, and changed back into her armor and climbed back up. She noticed that dawn had broken across the tidal basin. Jane then summoned a bottle of whiskey from her Pip-Boy and poured into the flowing waters. "We did it Dad," she thought with a smile. For that bath had down more than rejuvenate her body, her mind and spirit had been cleansed as well. For as the past had been washed away, all that was left was the future.

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So what do you think?


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